UnSure
by BlackDove of Blessings
Summary: Just a small fanfic about Ryoma and the Regulars, a sneak peak into Ryoma's past and real homelife, and maybe some sneak peaking on RyoSaku's date. Please Read and review.
1. Chapter 1: Dinner at Ryoma's part 1

UnSure

Part one

"So we're going out now. Or are we?" Sakuno couldn't figure it out. It had all been unexpected. Ryoma had just come to her on Saturday and asked if she needed her racket restrung. Realizing it wouldn't hurt she said yes. Ryoma nodded and continued with practice. Sakuno hadn't thought much about it, since they both went to the same stringer.

Sakuno told Tomo about it, to explain why they'd have to reschedule their shopping trip. Tomo had been so excited she hadn't minded at all. Tomo came over and helped her pick out a cute outfit. Sakuno didn't want Tomo to over react but anyone who knew Tomo, they'd know she over reacted anything that had to do with Ryoma's business.

Tomo's goal was to become Ryoma's manager, but they still had a way to go. [Mada Mada Dane…I had to put the Eng. Version of it somewhere. :)] Sakuno was brought back to reality when Tomo threw some clothes at her head.

"There you go the perfect outfit." Sakuno took it and looked at it. It was one of her new shirts. A grey and white wide stripped long-sleeved shirt; it was simple but the lines gave Sakuno curves and the square cut top empathized the small B cup she possessed. With that there was a pair of Vanity dark gilly pants that hugged her hips without giving her over the pants love handles. The shoes were tossed at her next. They were her dark brown Uggs. It really was a cute outfit, and perfect for the weather that was turning chilly.

"But Sakuno, can I make a suggestion?"

"Sure."

"Your hair can't you do something different with this time. I mean you look cute with your hair in braids but we're not in Jr. High anymore and Ryoma sees you like that all the time. Why not try something different?"

"But I love my hair."

"I know I'm not saying getting cut, just let it down and clip the hair that's in your face back, and let your bangs fall, you look cute with bangs. When Tomo noticed that Sakuno was still thinking about she tried something else. "You'll look more mature that way, so when you're walking with Ryoma-sama people won't see a high schooler and a Jr. higher."

Sakuno jerked her head up, Tomo stepped back a little maybe she'd gone too far. She relaxed when she saw the assent in Sakuno's eyes. Tomo squealed grabbed Sakuno and danced them around the room. Finally letting her go, Tomo announced she needed to get back home; she was babysitting her brothers, _again_.

Sakuno followed Tomo to the door and waved as she walked down the path and out of the yard's gate. When Tomo was out of sight Sakuno closed the door leaned against and blew out a breath. She still hadn't figured out yet if Ryoma had asked her out on a date or not. The way Tomo had acted hadn't helped either. Sakuno didn't want to get her hopes up to high; shrugging Sakuno headed into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. She'd worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

……

Meanwhile…

Ryoma tossed Eiji's arm off, again. He had finally broke down and agreed to bring his senpais home for dinner. His mother and Nanako had ganged up on him and forced him to ask his senpais over. He would've refused if they hadn't threatened to only make Western food for the rest of his life. He hated western food.

Today was just one of those days that are weird. First he'd had to ask his senpais over (which had shocked them). They'd agreed of course, the only people who'd even been in the door of his house had been Tezuka, Kaidoh and Momo; but even they had only made it to the living room and then to the Shrine's tennis court. And then for some reason he asked Sakuno to go with him tomorrow, which he never does.

Turning into the gate of his home, Ryoma sensed his father. Today was just not his day. Going all the way in Ryoma saw Nanjiroh Echizen with a broom in hand, sweeping up the walkway.

Nanjioh looked up to see eight stunned faces. None of them had met Samurai Nanjiroh in person, and frankly they were honored to meet the most famous tennis player in Japan and American History.

"Hello shounin (boy), it's about time you got home. You're late." Nanjiroh smiled then and waved the broom around. Ryoma ignored him and kept walking. Neither of them remembered the regulars.

"I'm home. What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell, I'm sweeping; you should help your father and sweep it for me."

"Nada (no)." Ryoma said continuing towards the house.

"I said you should help your father." Nanjioh threw the broom to Ryoma; which he caught and glared at his father.

"I said nada." Turning away, an object hit his head. He stopped, standing still as several more papery objects were tossed at his head. (Previously made by Nanjioh, of course) Finally Ryoma was annoyed enough to retaliate. Turning around Ryoma swung the broom and aimed it for his dad. Nanjiroh dodged all of them. Ryoma then tossed back the broom.

"I'm going inside now."

"So your swing as improved again. But shounin your aim sucks." Nanjiroh laughed.

"Who ever said I was aiming at you?" Nanjiroh looked behind him; smirking he saw laying behind him in a perfectly made little pyramid of paper balls. Nanjiroh chuckled again, tapping the broom against his shoulder.

"Same old, same old. Well we all better get inside Rinko will kill me if I make you stay out here any longer." A clearing of throat sounded. Looking towards the door all ten people standing outside looked to the noise. And there stood one semi-irate mother.

This was also the first time the regulars had met Ryoma's mother too. They noticed that Ryoma had her facial structure, and lean shoulder width. She was petite, shorter than Ryoma now; she had brownish red hair and brown eyes. At the moment she had an almost twitching smile on and a spatula and an apron on. The regulars noticed right away how the Echizen men stiffened. Finally she spoke; she was soft spoken, but straightforward.

"Nanjiroh, have you been keeping our guests waiting?" Nanjiroh winced, but smiled and replied.

"Not intentionally."

"Hmm, I see. And you've been keeping my little man out in the cold too. I can only guess, you're doing 'tennis training' again."

"Well, yeah just a little."

"I see. Well its dinner time and I have yet to even entertain my guests. That's very good of you two. Now please come inside." Rinko's tone changed as did her expression when she turned to the group of young men. She smiled kindly and ushered all of them in. As the Echizen men followed Rinko inside the regulars followed too. Ryoma took off his shoes and sat down his tennis bag.

The entrance way was long but spacious. A staircase could be seen going upstairs, a door down the hall could be seen and sounds of dishes confirmed it as being the kitchen. The living room was immediately to the left after stepping onto the landing. It was furnished with a couch, a small love seat, and two chairs. A T.V sat in the corner where it could be seen form the small dining area between the kitchen and living room. The kitchen had a table with six chairs, and the dinning area was a medium sized table with about twelve to fourteen cushions. The whole house gave off a homey feeling, and the regulars immediately relaxed. Well Tezuka relaxed as much as he'd allow himself to be.

Ryoma sat down on one of the cushions one over from his father, the others headed that way too. "So which of you is the Captain?" Nanjiroh asked. Tezuka stepped forward.

"I am, sir."

"Oh well then you come sit right here. I have lots I need to talk to you about." Nanjiroh had a stupid grin on his face; Ryoma knew this was going to be bad. Tezuka was to polite to refuse, so did as requested of him. The sitting order ensued as thus from top left to bottom left, then to bottom right to top right: Nanjiroh, Tezuka, Fuji, Oishi, Eiji, Taka, Kaidoh, Nanako, Inui, Momo Ryoma, and then Rinko.

Rinko finished bringing out the dinner plates as Nanako carried the last of the food. There was yakimono (a grilled dish) of fish, nimono (a stew) of curry, itamemono (stir fry) of vegitables, mushimono (steamed) carrots and pea pods, aemono or tsukemono (pickled) peppers, agemono (deep fried), and suimono or shirumono (soup) miso. It all looked wonderful. Rinko and Nanako sat and Nanjiroh said.

"Dig in." and they all replied "tadakimasu." They all enjoyed talking over their meal. Momo and Eiji being the loudest and followed up by Nanjiroh who was making funny statements.

"Man there is so many funny and _embarrassing_ stories of Ryoma. I bet you'd all love to hear them." This particular statement caught everyone's attention. They'd all love to hear funny stories of their little kouhai. He was always so cool and collected that they rarely had any blackmail against him. "Like this one time…"

"Later dear, you can tell them anything you want I can even get you the photo albums, but wait till after dinner, I want to hear something about my little man's friends." Rinko said, effectively shutting Nanjiroh up.

"Good idea, it'll make the stories even more funny if we show them all the photos."

"How many photo albums do you have?" Fuji asked he was really interested in photography.

Rinko thought about it then said. "Well from his birth to the time he won his first tournament at 7, there are about 15 albums, give or take three." Everyone looked at her from a moment. Rinko smiled at them, and leaned over and hugged Ryoma, who was so used to being grabbed he didn't even drop his food. But he was unable to eat when Rinko rubbed her cheek against his. "He is my only little man after all. I had to document everything." Ryoma tried not to blush at that statement. Nanjiroh was laughing, and his senpais were trying to hide their amusement and failing. Rinko glared, a glare every similar to Ryoma's when she heard snickering. "You better not be making fun my son," here she turned to Nanjiroh, "it's your entire fault anyway. What else was I supposed to occupy my time with when all the two of you every did was play tennis. I was bored." Here she put on a small pout.

"So how long has Echizen been playing?" Taka asked.

Rinko waved the statement away. "When has he not; his father gave the poor thing his first racket at 6 months old. By the time Ryoma was three, he was returning balls Nanjiroh tossed to him. Actually I have pictures to prove it. Ryoma even had little rackets and tennis balls on his mobile on his crib. I'm proud to say my son's life revolves around tennis. Isn't that right Ryoma?"

Ryoma looked at her and replied. "How should I know, before I became aware of it I was already playing everyday." Ryoma then turned back to his food and continued eating. All the regulars looked at the three Echizens. Some of them felt kind of sorry for Echizen, the way it appeared it didn't seem like he'd had a choice to do anything beside play tennis. He'd been bred on it his whole life; he didn't even have the choice to choose to want to play; it was just his life that he played. That was the sad thing about it.

Nanako looked at them and smiled, whispering to get their attention. "Don't feel bad for him, Ryoma truly loves tennis, and I'm sure if he hadn't been faced with it when he was young he'd still want to play. And being trained the way he was he's a very accomplished tennis player now, and he has such wonderful friends he gets to hang around with. So really don't feel bad." Nanako then smiled again and continued to eat.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Part of Sneak peak for a later chapter

He then grabbed her and brought her back to him. Lowering his face he captured her lips and rightfully devoured her. His hand behind her neck, and his other placed near her shoulder blades, but under the arms, kept her smashed right up against him.

This gave her the illusion of powerlessness, comfort, and yet she felt a sensual feel of control. To think small, clumsy, shy sweet little Sakuno could make the most stubborn, seemingly dense, always in control Ryoma not only feel this way, but to act


	2. Chapter 2: Playstation

UnSure

Part two

After they'd finished their meal Ryoma brought his guests into the living room. Nanako and Nanjiroh cleared the table as Rinko prepared tea and snacks.

"Hey ochibi, what this?" Eiji pointed to a black cord coming out the bottom of the T.V. stand behind the doors of the T. V. cabinet. Ryoma handed Tezuka his green tea before heading over to it.

"Oh that's my play station; Oyaji probably didn't put it up correctly." Ryoma opened the doors and play station heaven was revealed.

"Echizen! You didn't tell me you had all that." Momo said practically drooling.

"Let's play!" Eiji yelled.

"Eiji, that's rude, we can't impose on our hosts. They've already fed all of us." Oishi admonished. Eiji sat down next in the only free space left, by Tezuka and pouted.

"But I want to play." He mumbled.

"I do too." Momo said.

"Count me in." Fuji said, Taka looked around embarrassedly.

"Same here, I haven't played for a long time."

"Fsshed." Yes, even Kaidoh wanted to play. Oishi was fidgeting, he knew he wanted to play, but he was worried about being rude. Tezuka just sat calmly sipping his tea and Inui muttered about gaining data. Ryoma looked at his senpais faces and sighed.

"I don't care if you play." Ryoma turned on the play station, and the TV. and grabbed some controllers out of the chest sitting against the wall. He also opened a glass door and revealed a whole set of games. "I don't have a lot of multi-player games that can fit all of us, so you'll just have to take turns."

"Ochibi/Echizen you rock!" Momo and Eiji glopped him and started treating him like he was 8 years younger instead of only 1-2 years.

A click sounded and a flash went off catching the group's attention. Rinko was standing there with a camera continuously taking pictures. "On my baby's first group play date. It's so cute, I have to make a photo album to commemorate this." A thin layer of pink lined Ryoma's face.

"Okaa-san, this is not a play date. And it isn't the first time we've played against each other either."

"Yes I know, but you've never had this many friends over at the same time, so I want to make sure it's not forgotten." Then she stopped and gave them an ubber-happy face. "Why don't all of you stay the night. Then I can drop you all off tomorrow when Ryoma and I go shopping." Now Ryoma remembered why he'd ask Sakuno on a date for tomorrow. There was no way he was going to go shopping with this mom. And since she'd said yes he had an excuse not to.

"I can't go shopping tomorrow. I have a date." Everything slowed down to a stop. After that announcement. Momo, Eiji, Taka, Oishi, and Fuji stopped playing the game they'd started. Ryoma's controller still lying next to Momo, since he hadn't realized they'd started without him. Inui readjusted his sloped glasses and Tezuka looked over his tea cup. Then the world sped up again as a collective rushing of feet sounded. Nanjiroh, Rinko, Nanako and most of the Regulars started to bombard Ryoma with questions. The most repetitive were: Who is it? When did you ask? Where? And is she cute? Ryoma blinked his eyes wide with the sudden close proximity of his family and friends to him. He was surprised enough that he didn't use his front and just answered.

"Sakuno Ryusaki, Today, the stringer and lunch, and… she isn't not cute." Were his answers.

……………………………….

Tune in next time to find out what happens.

Thanks for reading so far and please continue. Thanks.

BlackDove of Blessings


	3. Chapter 3: Frantic moves and Phone calls

Part Three

Ryoma woke to the sound of his alarm going off, but before he could do anything about it, he heard and curse then a slam, and quiet. This oddly woke him up more than the alarm had. Picking up his head he remembered last night. He and the regulars had been down in the living room for hours when they wanted to know what time it was. Ryoma had gone up to his room and grabbed his clock, plugged it into the wall and went back to playing his video game. The last time he'd glanced at it, it had been close to three in the morning, and they were still going strong, though they'd stop playing video games after Nanjiroh and come and unplugged it from the wall, and told them it was to loud. After that they'd began to talk. Their subject? Ryoma's date of course. They'd wiggled every detail out of him, including the bit about it being an excuse not to go shopping with his mother. Rinko's plans hadn't been detoured very long when an over excited Nanjiroh agreed to go in Ryoma's place before he realized fully what she'd asked.

Ryoma looked around to see who might've turned to the clock off. It was as it turned out to be a double tag team. Both Eiji and Momo had hit it cause the loud noise. Ryoma looked around the floor of regulars. Even the naturally early raisers like Tezuka, Fuji and Kaidoh where still asleep. Though Ryoma suspected that neither Kaidoh nor Tezuka regularly stayed up as late as they had last night. Getting off his part of the floor Ryoma headed over to the alarm clock to read what time it said. It was now 8 o'clock, which means that the regulars had an hour before his mom took them all home in their van. It also gave him an hour to get ready to meet Sakuno at 9 at the train station. That's when he thought of something. Had he even told her the time? Shrugging Ryoma went around and woke the others up; he didn't bother with Tezuka and Fuji who'd woken up on their own when he began moving around. After that, they went towards the kitchen coming up a feast. They'd slept through breakfast but Rinko had made a feast and placed it on the table for when they woke up. In record time, they were finished and playing video games again. Ryoma only had about fifteen minutes before he needed to meet with Sakuno. Going up to his room he grabbed a black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, his red, white and blue sweat wrist guard, socks and his cap. Then grabbing a towel he went and took a shower. When he was clean and dressed he finger combed his hair, placed some gel in to keep it were it needed to be, even after he took his hat on or off. Then headed downstairs. The regulars where gathering their things, thankful that they all had clean clothes from their tennis bags to change into, when Ryoma meet them in the living room.

"Well don't you look all dressed up shounin?" Nanjiroh said, coming from the garden. Ryoma ignored him, but that didn't stop the other regulars from ganging up on him. When Momo when for the hair Nanako came into the living room, carrying the portable phone.

"Ryoma-san, there's a girl on the phone for you." Ryoma grabbed the phone and said hello.

"Ryoma-kun, it's me Sakuno. Um, eto, um, sorry for calling, but um you didn't tell me what time to meet you. Will nine be alright for you?" Ryoma thought so.

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, um see you at the train station. Bye."

"Bye." When Ryoma hung up it was to the stupid grins of several sempais, his parents, and Nanako. "What time is it?" Oishi looked at the alarm clock and said.

"It's 8:55." Ryoma's eyes widen.

"What! I have to go." Then he rushed out to the hallway to get his shoes.

"Hey what's the rush, shounin?" Nanjiroh asked from the living room door way. Ryoma finished slipping on his second shoe and made a grab for his tennis bag, jacket, wallet and keys. He rushed out with a…

"I'm late for my date, Bye." Then he was gone, leaving his friends and family laughing as the door slide shut.

………………………………………..

'Stupid Ryusaki, didn't she realize it was already 9 o'clock?' Ryoma thought this as he raced to the train station. When he arrived five minutes after nine, he thought he'd made pretty good time. Leaning against the post Ryoma waited for a sign of Sakuno. About five or six minutes later Ryoma heard the sound of rushed feet. Looking to see who it was Ryoma leaned away from the post and look around it. It was Sunday but the train station was quite empty. Including Ryoma and the newcomer there were only about eight people on the platform. Finally Ryoma caught a glimpse of the newcomer and he stared. It was a girl with long russet hair and she was in dark pants, a pink and grey top with boots. She looked really good and Ryoma felt his boy instincts coming in. Ryoma watched as the newcomer looked around the train station. 'She's looking for someone.' Ryoma felt guilty for feeling disappointed it wasn't him; after all he was here to meet someone too. Ryoma went back to leaning against the post looking for a semi-cute, twin braided, brown haired girl. Ryoma felt a movement to his side and looked in his peripheral vision to see who it was, it was the newcomer and she was leaning just to the side. She still seemed to be looking for someone, but Ryoma felt waves of distress coming off of her. Leaning over a little more just to catch a glimpse of what her face looked like, at the same time the newcomer turned. In seconds they were staring at each other, eyes wide in final recognition. Fainting blushes covering their faces at the proximity of their bodies. Ryoma finally looked wholly at the newcomer's face, it was Sakuno; yet Ryoma couldn't believe it. She was wearing light makeup; her hair was smoothed down her back with clips to keep it out of her face. The front of the shirt when just low enough that Ryoma appreciated being a guy, it all hugged her like a second skin.

"Sakuno?"

"H-hello Ryoma-k-kun. I'm sorry I'm late, I didn't realize it was already nine, when I called." Sakuno was blushing at her admission, but oddly it made Ryoma smile. Sakuno wondered why, but she was to busy trying to get her heart from beating out of her chest.

………………………………………………………………………………….

Tune in next time to find out what happens.

Thanks for reading so far and please continue. Thanks.

BlackDove of Blessings


	4. Chapter 4: The Date

Part four: The Date

Ryoma smirked, Sakuno's new look was a surprise but it wasn't a disappointment at all. After they'd finally noticed each other and Sakuno stopped apologizing they'd gotten onto the train station to head off to the stringers. Ryoma had left his two spare rackets there three days before and he'd asked to pick them up by the weekend, so he'd have time to go and pick them up. Once they'd boarded the train though the silence between them lengthened; neither had any idea on what to do on a date. They'd been on a 'date' similar to this one, back in their first year of middle school, when Sakuno's grandmother and his coach had asked him to take her and get her racket restrung. It'd been more than two years ago, and they were already in their freshman year in high school. (I don't think I ever mentioned that, sorry)

Ryoma kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, but Sakuno was looking down at the train's floor, clutching her tennis racket to her chest. This kind of irritated Ryoma. He was used to her starting a conversation so he didn't have to. But Sakuno, who'd learned her lesson the last time she thought to ask him personal question or talk too much as Ryoma had put it, had decided not to say anything to make Ryoma angry. Ryoma waited a couple more minutes before his irritation got the better of him. Leaning forward from his relaxed position, Ryoma placed his face into Sakuno's line of vision and frowned.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Sakuno's face flushed at Ryoma's proximity. That was twice in one day, after being around him for two years, Sakuno knew that Ryoma liked his personal space, and she always tried to give it to him, but now he seemed to be placing his usual like for silence and space on the back burner and all on one date!

"Why did you ask me out on a date?" Spilt out of her mouth, it had been on her mind since he'd asked her, and well it just slipped out. Sakuno's face flushed in embarrassment. Ryoma on the other hand was surprised, he hadn't expected **that**. Sitting back Ryoma thought if he should answer truthfully or not, when Sakuno spoke up again. "I'm sorry Ryoma-kun that wasn't what I meant to say. You don't have to answer." Sakuno felt disappointed in herself, their date had just started and she'd already ruined it. 'Well at least he asked me on date.'

"Truthfully, I didn't want to go shopping with my mom today, I wanted to pick up my rackets. When I saw you I remembered we have the same stringer, and so I asked you as an excuse not to go." Ryoma turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide in shock, and he could see the disappointment appearing on her face. Now he felt really, really guilty. 'I should say something else.' "But you know I'm glad I did, because we've known each other for a while now, I've even given you tennis lessons before, but I realize I don't really know much beside that you have wobbly hips, your form sucks, and you have abnormally long hair." Sakuno's face cleared as she thought about what he said. And he was completely right, besides tennis, and tennis related activities she didn't really know much about him, either.

"You're right, Ryoma-kun." For some reason this made Sakuno feel a lot better, like in something they were finally equal in something. She knew just as much about him as he probably knew about her. Smiling Sakuno turned to him. "It's because I'm so shy and Ryoma-kun can be very intimidating to try and get to know."

"You think so?" Ryoma asked. Sakuno nodded warming up to the conversation.

"Ryoma-kun gives off a sense of confidence that a lot of people don't have and that makes them feel intimidated when their around you," Sakuno giggled, "and it doesn't help that you're always scowling at people when they get too close to you." Sakuno continued to laugh a little. Ryoma smiled, he'd never seen her so light hearted around him, and she was always so timid. While she laughed Ryoma turned towards her, their knees almost touching.

"What else?"

"Hmm?" Sakuno asked confused.

"What else about me that makes' it 'so' hard to approach me?" Sakuno thought about it. Then she began counting on her fingers.

"Well Ryoma-kun is really smart. You're good at English, and you never get bad grades in any of your classes. You're a world renowned tennis player since you won the U.S. Open when you were 12, and not only helped the tennis team make it to nationals, but you also won against the 'Child of God' Yukimura-san. You're the only tennis player in the history of Seigaku to become a regular while you were still a freshman. You're popular because of all this and because you're good looking." Sakuno looked at Ryoma holding up seven fingers. "These are all reasons why people are intimidated around you and that does not include your arrogant attitude."

Ryoma was looking at her, had she really just called him 'good-looking' and she didn't even blush? But the way she described him just now made him feel uncomfortable. It was like he was some idol or something that didn't like to mix with commoners. 'I sound like that Monkey-King.' "Does that mean that you don't like me? I'm really not that bad, am I?"

"Of course not!! Ryoma-kun is the best. I mean you were always helping me with my tennis lessons, and you're always sticking up for people. I think if you'd just open up a little, people would realize just how approachable you really are. Even I thought that of you, but..."

"But?" Ryoma wondered what she'd say. Sakuno turned towards him, fully facing him. A big smile on her face.

"But now I think Ryoma-kun is really a nice person, and I like you." Ryoma's face blushed. She liked him. He didn't know how to answer that. "I think Ryoma-kun's a really good friend, and I want to learn more about you." That dampened it for Ryoma 'So she only thinks of me as a friend.' Ryoma looked at her smiling face and smirked/smiled. 'Well it's not too bad having her as a friend.'

"Me too." Sakuno blinked. "I want to learn more about you," Sakuno's face was surprised. "I mean you can't be friends with people you don't know, right?"

"Right." Sakuno smiled, she was happy, she was finally making progress.

"Well as a friend, I feel its safe enough to admit, I have no idea what to do on a date. So if you have any suggestions, feel free to give them." Ryoma leaned an arm against the back of the train seat.

Sakuno laughed, she felt some much more relaxed. 'Why couldn't we have been like this before now?' "How would I know, this is technically only my second date ever." Sakuno added the air quotes to the date part.

"Your second? Who did you go out with on your first date?" At this Sakuno burst out laughing.

"You, silly, remember when Momo-senpai thought we went on a date that time to the stringers?" Ryoma smiled.

"How'd you know about Momo-senpai being there?"

"Because the day after, we met outside the gates and he asked me if your apology was good enough to make up for ruining our date."

"Well, what'd you say?"

"I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about. You should have seen his confused face it was so funny." Ryoma could imagine it very well. After all he'd left that look on Momo's face a lot, and it never got old. The train announced their stop and they gathered their things and got off heading for the stringers. After arriving and finding Ryoma's rackets already packed in his case and the stringer sitting watching T.V. Sakuno told him that she also needed her racket restrung. After he said he'd be awhile they decided to go walk around.

…

Once they were back on the main street, Sakuno began to look at all the window displays. They didn't go inside any of them though. Sakuno wasn't much of a shopper and considering Ryoma had asked her on a date to avoid shopping with his mom, she figured he wasn't much of a shopper either. But they did have fun watching the displays, and sometimes they stopped to comment on the outfits. They spent the morning just walking along the different shopping districts, and eating at a café for lunch. They laughed and talked about some of the foods and restaurants they liked and found they had similar tastes in food. Sakuno found out that after tennis, Ryoma's favorite things to do were spend time with his cat, Karupin, eating at the Burger Palace with Momo, and playing video games against Nanako and his dad.

"Nanako?" Sakuno asked.

"She's my cousin who leaves with us. She goes to college, but she plans on moving to an apartment once she graduates and gets a job as a journalist." Sakuno was curious to who else lived with Ryoma, she might not know about.

"Who else lives with you?"

"My parents of course, Nanako and Karupin, and when my older brother is around he stays with us."

"You have an older brother?" Sakuno was really shocked at this. She'd always figured that Ryoma was an only child.

"Yeah, he's actually my father's brother's son. Or my cousin, but after my uncle died my dad adopted him. He's almost five years older than me, and lives in the United States. So I don't see much of him, my mom takes care of him just like she does Nanako and me, but I've always felt that she still only thinks of him as a cousin and not a son. When we were little he lived with us for about a year, then he went to live in some kind of year long dormitory. So I pretty much forgot about him until I met him on a cruise ship in the summer after nationals. The regulars also got to meet him, we all thought he was a jerk, but he's actually okay. I see more of him now that he travels with a national tennis team." Ryoma shrugged. "How about you?"

"Well my parents are constantly on the road because of their jobs, so I don't see much of them. I moved in with my Grandmother when I was 10 because it was easier for my parents than having to constantly have a babysitter watch me." Ryoma thought Sakuno looked sad as she talked about it. "But I love my grandmother, she can be rough and scary at times but I know she loves me. And it's not like my parents ignore me or anything, they always made time to come to important school functions, open houses and birthdays. It's just they have busy lives that I can't always see them. But they love me, and they give me everything I need, and they help grandmother with the bills so we live comfortable and I've never gone without anything. It's just I wish…"

"That you could see them more often, when it wasn't an important occasion." Ryoma finished for her. Sakuno nodded. Ryoma never would have guessed. Sakuno had always seemed like a happy person, albeit a shy one. But he felt sad that she didn't see her parents as much as he did his own. He took for granted, and even wished at times that he didn't have to see his father ever day, when Sakuno didn't have the choice.

They passed a stand full of different trinkets. Stopping Ryoma's eye caught on a small gold bracelet with little gold shape hearts and little pink-gold roses. It reminded him of the girl next to him; it was small and unassuming, but beautiful and delicate and made of strong stuff. Sakuno had noticed the bracelet too, but also noticed the price, and decided she didn't need it. She moved onto the next stall that had hats, sunglasses and arm bands. Ryoma watched her move off before he went on his gut and picked the bracelet up; telling the seller he wanted it. After paying for it, Ryoma followed Sakuno to the next stall that held t-shirts with funny pictures and sayings.

.,,..,,..,..,..,,..,..,,..,,.,..,,..,,..,,.,,..,,..,..,,.,..,,.,,.,,..,,..,..,,.,,.,,..,..,,,..,,.,,..,..,,.,,.,..,..,..,..,,.,..,,.,,..,,.,..,..,..,..,.,

It was getting close to three in the afternoon when they headed back to the stringers' shop. After paying their bills for their rackets, Ryoma and Sakuno headed back towards the train station. They were still talking when the train stopped, and it was time they separated. Ryoma didn't really want the day to end. He'd had a lot of fun, just being with her. She was an interesting person, and he felt she was nice person to hang out with, and he'd like to do it again. So again he went with his gut.

"Hey Sakuno, do you want to do this again?" Ryoma tilted his hat up. "I mean, without the stringer, but just hanging out again?"

Sakuno smiled, she'd wanted to spend more time with Ryoma too. Nodded she answered yes. "When's a good time for you?" She asked. Ryoma thought about it. He had practice all week, then a game on Friday, but if the game didn't last to late, he was free after that.

"How about you come to my game on Friday, and we can hang out afterwards. If it doesn't run to late, but when we win, we'll probably have to stop at Kawamura's first. Is that okay?" Sakuno nodded. She'd planned on going to the game anyway, but now she had a 'date' to look forwards to after it.

"So it's a date." Ryoma said and Sakuno laughed. When Sakuno went to turn home after saying goodbye, Ryoma went on impulse and called her name.

"Hey Sakuno, I don't have your cell number. Can we trade?" Sakuno blushed, she hadn't expected for Ryoma to ask for her number but she was happy he did. Nodding, she pulled out her cell and handed it to Ryoma so he could put his number in, and she did the same as Ryoma gave her his.

"Done." Sakuno said, handing Ryoma his phone, and taking hers from his out stretched hand. Now waving and smiling Sakuno said, "I'll see you at school then. Bye Ryoma-kun. I had lots of fun, thanks for asking me out."

"Me too. Bye." Ryoma nodded, Sakuno smiled again before she headed home. Ryoma waited for her to leave the station's north exit and then left thru the south exit, thinking about his day. He reached home 10 minutes later.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….


	5. Chapter 5: Being Friends

Part Five: Being friends

When Ryoma lay down for the night, he remembered the bracelet in his pocket. Getting up, he picked his jeans up and pulled the bracelet out. The light from the moon shown through the open curtain window, glinting off the gold and making it twinkle. Dropping his pants into the dirty laundry Ryoma lay down and studied the bracelet. He wondered why he'd brought it, but as he continued to look at it he remembered his day with Sakuno, smiling at some of the subjects they'd talked about. He was still thinking about Sakuno as he drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning Ryoma groaned, as he felt something digging into his palm. Looking down he noticed the gold bracelet clutched tightly into his palm, as though unconsciously he hadn't wanted to lose it in his sleep. Getting up Ryoma laid it on his desk and grabbed his clean uniform and headed for the shower to change and head off to school.

Finished his shower Ryoma headed back to his room, when he heard his mom coming up to check on him. When she noticed him at the top of the stairs she smiled.

"Well you're up early; I came to wake you up once I noticed your clock was still in the living room. But your already awake. Hurry and come down for breakfast." Then turning she headed back down the stairs. Ryoma entered his room and grabbed his school bag, placing his homework and school supplies into the bag. Before heading down the stairs he put the gold bracelet into his pocket. He didn't want his father, Nanako or his mom to find it in his room; he'd never live it down. Placing his bag with his tennis gear once he was downstairs, Ryoma walked into the kitchen and sat down to the table. He finished his milk, toast, and eggs off and saying goodbye got up to leave.

After he'd grabbed his stuff, put his shoes on Ryoma exited his house and headed towards the school. Momo had stopped coming to pick him up, once he had his own bike, but they usually met up at the corner.

When he arrived and Momo wasn't there Ryoma figured that Momo was running late today so went ahead to school, he didn't want to be late and have to drink one of Inui's Vegetable Deluxe 2000 energy drinks. He was ill just thinking about the last time he'd had to drink one. Ryoma shuddered in disgust.

…

Sakuno was not having a good morning. She'd woken later than usual, so had rushed thru her shower, and breakfast thankful she'd made her bento the night before. She'd grabbed her bag, and headed towards her bike, only remembering that the chain had broke, and that she hadn't fixed it yet. As she'd begun to walk she noticed that her back was unusually cold and damp feeling. Looking around Sakuno knew it wasn't raining, so she touched her head and realized that her hair was completely down, and still wet from her shower.

'Great now it's going to get all curly and frizzy, and I don't have any hair ties to push it back with.' Sakuno hoped that Tomo would have one and a brush so she could at least put it up.

She was about two blocks from the school when she heard the tall tale sound of a bicycle, so she moved over to get out of the way for it to pass. When she heard the bike breaks squeal as it came to a stop Sakuno turned to see who it might be.

It was Ryoma; he'd seen Sakuno as he came around the corner. She'd been mumbling something to herself, and he stopped to see what she was up to. When Sakuno turned to look at him, he placed his foot down to balance himself. She didn't look like she was having a good day, and she kept fiddling with her hair, he noticed was down again and very wet. Ryoma couldn't help but smile, he thought she was cute.

"You okay?" he asked. Sakuno blushed but nodded. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to dry my hair, and now it's all wet and I don't have a ponytail to put it up with. I hate it when my hair is wet. It dries all frizzy and until it does dry I look like a drowned wet cat." Sakuno mumbled to him once again moving to fiddle with her hair. Turning her attention from her hair she noticed that Ryoma was thinking about something and she wondered what it was about when Ryoma smirked.

"Get on." Ryoma moved his bags to one side so she could sit on the back of his bike. Sakuno's face blared with a red blush. Ryoma smirked as she began to stutter something out, but he cut her to the chase. "Come on, we're friends now right?" Sakuno nodded. "Then it should be fine, besides I can get you a clean towel from the tennis locker room and you can dry your hair. So it works out for you. So get on." Sakuno couldn't think of a way to politely refuse, but the temptation of having a dry towel for her hair tilted the scale as she let out a sigh and climbed onto the back of Ryoma's bike. Ryoma smirked, and started pedaling again. They made it to the school in record time. Ryoma parked his bike on the bike rake, then he and Sakuno headed for the boys tennis locker room.

When Ryoma arrived, he told Sakuno to wait outside as he entered the locker room to get her a towel. When he entered he saw that all of his sempais were already there. Even Momo was getting dressed at his locker. When they saw him, they were surprised that he was so early. Saying hello they asked him what was up with him being so early. He just shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the towel rack for a clean, dry towel. Picking one up, he said he'd be back. Then he leaned out of the door and gave Sakuno the towel.

"Just give it back to me when you're done okay." Then he leaned back in, thankful that he's sempais were completely dressed now. But they were all staring at him really weird now. Ryoma headed for his locker and began to undress for practice. His senpais crowed around him.

"So how was your date yesterday?" Momo said as he plopped down next to Ryoma to catch his attention.

"It was okay." Ryoma answered as he pulled his tennis shirt on.

"What did you do?" Eiji asked as he placed himself on Ryoma's other side, effectively trapping him in. Ryoma sat down to pull on his tennis shoes, tied them, and moved to get up. Sighing when his continued silence didn't seem to deter them, but bring them closer to his personal space.

Moving he faced them all squarely. He answered, "We went to the stringers, ate lunch, and walked around, picked up the rackets and came back home. That's all." Ryoma grabbed his racket and stood.

"Is that _all_!" Momo and Eiji cried. "Sheesh Echizen, you have to be the most boring date ever." The door opened and they all turned towards it. Sakuno stuck her head in, her now dried hair in a mass of curls. Looking around Sakuno spotted her upperclassmen standing around as she comes in. She bowed then looked around for Ryoma, until she noticed him towards the back of the group.

"Ryoma-kun, thanks for the towel, I'm finished using it now." Sakuno started rolling the towel into a ball as they stared at her, and when nothing happened she began to blush. She didn't know what to do with the towel and she didn't want to just leave it after Ryoma was nice enough to get it for her. Finally Ryoma stepped forward, and she handed him the towel. "Thanks for letting me borrow it." Ryoma nodded and tossed the balled up towel into the dirty laundry basket in a corner.

"No problem, what are friends for." Ryoma smirk smiled, Sakuno smiled back in response.

"I guess I should head to class, I have class duties today." Turning to her senpais she bowed and said good-bye to them, then turned and said goodbye to Ryoma.

"Bye Sakuno." Sakuno turned and left thru entry way. Moving to leave too, Ryoma turned and arched a brow at his senpais. "Aren't you coming, practice should be starting soon." Then he too walked out the door, leaving it open for his senpais to walk out behind him.

…..

Ryoma collapsed into his seat, practice had been rough, but the worst part was how his senpais kept bugging him about his date with Sakuno, and then about the incident this morning. He'd just told them the truth, he'd met her, she'd needed a dry towel, they were both going to school and so he had given her the towel. It wasn't anything special. Of course his upperclassmen had completely ignored all this and focused their efforts on his comment about being friends, and when did he start being so informal with Sakuno, and when she'd become so comfortable with him period. Ryoma fringed innocence, and hadn't answered them, then rushed off to class as soon as possible.

….


	6. Chapter 6: Inui Juice

Unsure

* * *

Part Six: Inui Juice

Sakuno was determined to get the chain on her bike fixed. She didn't want another incident like this morning. It had been so awkward with all her upperclassmen staring at her this morning. Then when she'd asked for a hair tie from Tomo, she had wondered what had happened for Sakuno to forget to dry her hair of all things. Sakuno had explained the situation, including the part with Ryoma. Tomo had of course latched onto that part, and wanted to know everything. After telling her everything, Tomo had wondered about the 'date' yesterday. Sakuno had been reluctant, but even Ryoma had called her his friend in front of the regulars, so she told Tomo about how they had come to know each other a little more. By the end of the discussion, they had reached their classroom and started cleaning before the rest of the class had started to arrive.

"You know it's only a matter of time until Ryoma will want to take it to the next step, now that you're 'friends.' Though I still think it was a date no matter what you call it." Tomo said as she swiped the last bit of dirt into the dust bin with her broom.

"That's really how things are Tomo, Ryoma-kun and I are just friends who want to learn more about each other." Sakuno said earnestly. Tomo looked at her with a 'are you serious' look then blew out a sigh.

"If you say so." Tomo said, and then she finished with the sweeping. They pilled the dust into a trash bin, and Sakuno offered to take the trash to the burn receptacle. Tomo agreed to clean the chalkboard while Sakuno did that.

So Sakuno headed to the furnace, classes were starting in about 20 minutes and more and more students were arriving. When Sakuno passed some of them, they looked at her as though they didn't recognize her. Sakuno said "Good morning," and continued on her way. A few boys looked after her, asking each other if that was who they thought it was, before smirking they'd find out.

Sakuno was ignorant of this, as she continue around the school to the back of it. She had to pass the tennis courts, the gym and the art department, to get to the furnace. So as she passed the tennis courts she paused to look at the players.

Girls didn't have practice in the morning; they only practiced in the evenings. Sakuno had really enjoyed tennis in Jr. High and had participated for all three years, but knowing she wasn't getting any better she'd decided to not continue it into high school. She'd decided to join the photography and arts club instead.

They were doing laps around the courts, Sakuno could see them coming around the back. Inui was standing of to one side, a stop watch in his hands. Sakuno walked up to him. "Hello Inui-san." Inui turned his head to look down at her, his glasses glinting, before glancing at his stop watch again.

"13 seconds!" he yelled out, a large groan could be heard as the team speed up its efforts.

"What's going on sempai?" She asked.

"They're running timed laps, we're trying to increase their stamina. They have 13 seconds until the lap is up and if they don't make it, they have to drink this." Inui pulled out an opaque purplish colored drink that looked like mercury. Sakuno raised her eyebrows at that. She'd never been victim to one of Inui's drinks, so she wasn't sure what the big deal was.

"What's so bad about that. It's a drink, don't they want to keep hydrated?" Sakuno asked. Inui looked at her, then his glasses glinted and he smiled.

"Would you like to try it?" Inui asked. Sakuno thought about it, and knew she had time to hang out.

"Sure." Inui took one of the shot glasses from behind him and filled the glass. Sakuno took it from him when he offered it. She was about to drink it, when a rushing sound of feet and a yell of "NOOO." Sounded off to her left. Turning she stared as the pact of regulars and tennis members came barreling towards her.

The drink was already at her lips, and the sight of so many people rushing towards her that she stepped back and gulped the drink down. The group 'Ehhh-ed!' as they watched her swallow it. Ryoma stepped forward and asked.

"Sakuno, are you okay?" His hand was almost reaching towards her, his face worried. Sakuno looked at him strangely. Now that everyone had stopped moving at her, she was wondering what was wrong with them all.

"Of course I am, why shouldn't I be?" She asked. The group looked at her nervously.

"You drank Inui's drink." Eiji stated as though that explained it all. Sakuno nodded.

"He asked me if I'd like to try it." Sakuno was still looking at them weirdly. "Are you all alright. You were all yelling and it scared me. I thought something was wrong." The group sweat dropped, they were afraid to say anymore, since the effects of the drink weren't affecting her. Yet. They just shook their heads no. Sakuno looked confused but shrugged it away. Turning to Inui she smiled and handed the shot glass back to him. "Thanks sempai, it was very good, I think. I didn't really get a chance to taste it."

Inui took the shot glass back and smiled. "Would you like to try again?" Sakuno looked at him and smiled.

"Okay, sure." "No!!" Sakuno jumped. The others stood in front of her.

"Inui I think that is enough." Oishi said.

"Sakuno, you shouldn't let your guard down." Tezuka said, giving Inui a look. Just because the first drink hadn't done anything, there was no sense in testing that theory by letting her drink another.

Inui looked disappointed, for like a millisecond, then he let out a very sinister look that made the others back away in fear. "None of you finished the lap on time. That means." Then he held out a glass of his drink. The other's blanched and moved back, even Fuji moved and he was usually the only one who could stand Inui's drinks. Yet that didn't keep Inui from handed out the drinks to each of the players, and the players had no choice but to take the offered cup of liquid. Sakuno watched them all, she really didn't get what was so scary about the drink, she'd had it and she was fine. But the way the others were acting, it was if they were facing some kind of poison. When the last person had their cup, Tezuka looked down at his drink and willing himself to be strong gulped it down in one swig. The others followed his example and they too downed the concoction. The response was almost immediate as gasps, gags and choking noises sounded out among the tennis club members.

Sakuno watched as they all headed in the direction of the water fountain, well those of members that didn't faint after a couple of seconds. Sakuno was shocked. 'How had she not been sick?' Looking at Inui, she grabbed the jug he'd used to pour the drinks and poured herself another drink. It looked the same and there was no smell, so she plucked up her courage and downed the drink. There was no taste at first, but there was a pleasant after taste. Sakuno looked at her empty cup as though it would give her the answer then at Inui.

"Inui-sempai, that's pretty good. Could I take some with me? I want Tomo to try it."Inui just stared at her then he nodded to her and gave her his extra thermos. Sakuno smiled. "Thanks I'll wash it and bring it back." Looking at her watch, Sakuno noticed she only had five minutes before she needed to return to the classroom and she had yet to dump the trash. Turning she ran quickly over to the furnace, dumped the trash and then ran back towards the courts. The tennis members seemed to have collected themselves and were heading inside to shower and change before class started. Sakuno waved to a few, when she noticed the regulars standing around and talking. So as she approached, they turned towards her and the thermos. Eiji, Momo, and Kaidoh all jumped back and away from it, pointing towards it.

"Sakuno-chan is that Inui's thermos?" Momo asked. Sakuno looked down at the thermos she was carrying and nodded.

"Yeah Inui-sempai gave me the rest of it. I want Tomo to try it. It's really good." The group stared at her like she was an alien.

"Are you sure? I mean Inui give you the same thing as us, right?" Eiji asked. Sakuno nodded.

"Actually after you all ran away, I took the container from him and had another glass." Sakuno smiled sweetly. "At first I couldn't taste anything, but it did leave a refreshing pleasant taste." Sakuno looked at them. "Why did you all act that way? It seemed like you were all dying." Then her face cleared and she giggled. "You were trying to scare me weren't you. Ha-ha, you guys are so silly." Sakuno smiled, and the boys just grimaced but tried to act cool as though that was what had really happened. After all they'd all just made themselves look like complete weenies. "Well I have to go now everyone." Sakuno bowed and started walking off, before she remembered something. She turned back and walked to Ryoma. "Ryoma-kun I forgot to tell you earlier but you have afternoon cleaning duties. I was looking at the list to sign in and I noticed your name on the afternoon list. That's all. See you in class." She waved and turned walked back towards the school. Ryoma waved her off, and he and the others headed inside to change.


	7. Chapter 7: Awaiting thier next Date

Part seven: Awaiting our next date

For the rest of the week more people began to notice the different relationship between Sakuno and Ryoma. But when either was asked about it both denied anything beyond friendship. This caused some frustration for the upperclassmen, who to say the least were not happy about the non-dating relationship of their juniors. After all they'd been watching the slowest progression of a romance ever! At least that was how Eiji and Momo put it as they complained to Oishi and Taka during tennis practice. It was Thursday, the day before their tennis match, and they were all there to do some last minute touch ups on their game strategies.

"Look at him; he just doesn't get how horrible this has been on me." Momo cried in annoyance as he pointed his racket towards Ryoma, who was practicing with Fuji. Momo brought his hands towards his chest and growled in frustration. "Does he not understand that this is the perfect time to start a romance with Sakuno-chan?"

"I know that. That ochibi, he has no appreciation for a good thing in front of him. Oishi!" Eiji dramatically cried as he grabbed hold of Oishi. "Oishi can't we do anything to speed this up! I'm going to graduate and become an old man before Ochibi does anything." Eiji sobbed into Oishi's chest. Oishi just smiled and patted his friend's back as he replied.

"Eiji we can't do anything, they'll just have to find their own way."

"Who will?" Ryoma asked as he walked up behind Oishi. Eiji jerked his head up, tears in his eyes before he rushed Ryoma and grabbed him in an enveloping hug.

"Ochibi will be so wrinkly, too." Eiji sobbed as Ryoma gave him a very confused, and annoyed, look.

"Oishi-sempai, what is he talking about?" Ryoma asked. Oishi just gave him a motherly smile as Taka blushed and twiddled his thumbs; Momo was bursting with laughter behind Taka's back. The image of an old looking young Ryoma was just too much, and the laughter couldn't be subsided.

Ryoma only continued to look at Momo weirdly as he tried to untangle himself from Eiji. Luckily he was saved by Tezuka. "Echizen, come here." Eiji's attention was caught as Tezuka called for Ryoma; he let him go and stood to watch with the others.

"Is ochibi in trouble?" he asked his doubles partner.

"I don't think so." Oishi answered, watching Tezuka talk to Ryoma. Ryoma nodded his head before grabbing his tennis gear and heading to the boys' locker room. After several minutes more of the regulars came together for a short break, but when Ryoma came back out he was redressed in his school uniform instead of his club jersey and was heading towards the front of the school. Tezuka went back to patrolling the club, so that meant Momo and Kaidoh started fighting the moment his back was turned. Oishi tried to break it up, but Eiji and Fuji were betting to see who would grab whom first. Inui popped up and scared the daylights out of Eiji and said the statistics would be that they would do so at the same time, which they did. Taka was just watching the mess from the sidelines trying to figure out which fight to end, since Eiji was fighting with Inui, who was trying to get Eiji and Fuji to drink his newest batch, since Sakuno had brought back his thermos yesterday.

She'd apologized for not getting it to him earlier but when she'd brought it home to share with Coach Ryusaki and Tomo. But when she'd gone down for dinner she couldn't find it in the refrigerator. She'd looked for it for two days before finding it in the trash bin while shorting it for recycle day. Figuring she'd being klutzy and knocked it into the bin instead of putting it into the refrigerator like she thought she did, she reluctantly emptied the bottle and began cleaning it. She'd asked for some more but Inui hadn't made his next batch yet, but he'd promised her the rest of his newest concoction after tennis practice; thus resulting with Inui trying to force it into the boys, as usual.

As Eiji ran past Tezuka in a frenzied attempt to get away from Inui, Momo and Kaidoh's fight, Oishi's attempt to calm the two down and Inui's voice commanding Eiji to return to try his drink had finally severed Tezuka's last nerve. He reached out in quick reflex, catching Eiji by the collar and turning him back in the direction of the other regulars, and he barked out, "Be quiet! 30 laps now for disturbing practice!" Thus the sempais were distracted from their quest to intervene in Ryoma's love life, find out where he was going and how to get away from Inui. Their quest, failed.

…

Ryoma on the other hand was thankfully oblivious to all of this and was on his way to do his second day of cleaning. He'd apparently been signed up twice this week because of missing one last week and so here he was going to clean the chalkboard erasers and mop the classroom floor instead of being at practice. It was a drag. Ryoma hated clean up duty, every time he got stuck with Tomo or Horio and they never shut up. So they were friends, but one person can only take so much of being stuck in a small classroom with one or two of the loudest people you knew before a chore became a punishment.

Ryoma sighed and finished making his way up to the first floor where the freshmen classrooms were. Reaching to open the door Ryoma heard a bunch of voices and slowed down, one of those voices was Sakuno and they were talking to him.

"Sakuno you're so lucky, you get to do clean up duties with Ryoma-sama. Now I wish I'd signed up for today instead of tomorrow." Said one voice, Ryoma thought it sounded like Kyori, one of the girls from his class.

"If I didn't have to baby sit my annoying little brothers I would be too." That voice was definitely Tomo's. Ryoma's thoughts were definitely lifting, Tomo was leaving and Horio was still in practice, which meant he was alone with Sakuno. Ryoma felt a smile tugging on his face, but he pushed it down. He wasn't sure why the thought of being completely alone with Sakuno made clean up duty suddenly tolerable but they really hadn't had a chance to talk alone since Monday and it was Thursday now.

"Well we have to go now, see ya Sakuno, and good luck with being alone with Ryoma-sama." Kyori said as her and Tomo giggled, Ryoma straightened himself away from the doorframe he'd been leaning on and entered just before the girls passed him to go out. They both looked at him and giggled before leaving. Ryoma just shrugged that off and continued into the room. Sakuno didn't notice him at first since she had her back to him as she swept the floor. Ryoma went to the piled desks and chairs to put his school jacket across it, it was really warm this afternoon and after practicing he was already burning up. The sound of his jacket buttons clinking against the chair and desk brought Sakuno's head flying around. Noticing it was Ryoma she smiled at little and greeted him.

"Ryoma-kun, you're here early I haven't even finished sweeping yet." Sakuno said indicating the floor. Ryoma nodded before heading to the chalkboard.

"I'll just start cleaning the erasers." Sakuno smiled and nodded before continuing to sweep. They were both silent as Ryoma smacked the erasers together as he held them out the window and Sakuno finished sweeping. When she was done she leaned against the broom for a second and smiled at the small pile of dust she'd collected, before she turned to check Ryoma's progress. He was just turning around with the now clean erasers when Sakuno's sudden burst of laughter caught him off guard. She was looking at his face in particular, which caused Ryoma to touch his face to check it, but that only caused Sakuno to laugh harder. Ryoma was getting very curious and very annoyed with Sakuno's continued enjoyment so he barked out a "What?"

Sakuno was unable to answer as she continued to laugh and shake her head. Ryoma repeated his question but it took Sakuno a few moments to calm down long enough to answer him. "I'm sorry Ryoma-kun, it's just…it's just your face." She fought another burst of giggles.

"What about it?" Ryoma said now placing the erasers down to touch his face with both of his hands. But Sakuno rushed forward and grabbed his hands in hers as she smiled and shook her head some more.

"Haha, Ryoma-kun I wouldn't do that if I was you, it's only making it worse." Sakuno said as she pulled Ryoma forward and towards her own bag. She turned around and let go of Ryoma's hands to start looking through her bag. Ryoma just stood there and watched her, gripping and losing his hands in reflex from the warmth they suddenly had. Sakuno made a noise of accomplishment as she found what she was looking for, before turning around to hold out an open pocket mirror. Ryoma took it from her hands and looked into it before his own bark of laughter escaped him, Sakuno joined in. Ryoma's face was covered in smudges of chalk dust, and smears where his hands had been, had only added another coat of it onto his cheeks and chin.

They laughed for several minutes before finding themselves leaning against the desks, their stomachs aching from the laughter.

After a while they calmed down, looking at each other they smiled. The atmosphere around them had a warm feel to it. And the feelings they felt arching between them was softer, more comfortable, yet exciting. It was something new that was growing in them. Feeling embarrassed all of a sudden the two turned from each other and continued with their work. They soon finished their work and left the classroom. They had passed over the awkwardness they had felt and had started a small conversation about their upcoming paper for history. They'd moved onto other topics and finally fell on the topic of Ryoma's tennis game tomorrow. Sakuno had asked how Ryoma felt about it, and had gotten the expected confident answer that they would of course win. This only made Sakuno laugh. It brought back their previous conversation during their 'date'. They'd talked once before about it, and then she remembered they had a 'date' tomorrow.

They were almost to their stops when Ryoma thought about the gold bracelet still in his bag. And then he thought about the fact that he and Sakuno had a date tomorrow and he still hadn't thought about what they were going to do. They could just walk around like the week before but he felt as though he should have some specific idea about were and what they could do; and then another idea came to mind. "Sakuno, when is your birthday?"

Sakuno looked at him, before answering. "It's on January 14th, why?" Ryoma shook his head.

"No reason." Ryoma looked forward and away from Sakuno's curious stare. He'd planned on giving her the bracelet for her birthday but that was months away. It was only the beginning of September, the start of their second trimester and the mid-closing of their tennis season. So he was wondering what to do with the bracelet that even now was in his pocket. He'd had the item on his person for just over a week and he was starting to feel itchiness about it. He'd bought it thinking of Sakuno, and he'd had a plan that was now backfired. He couldn't just give it to her. It meant something.

Ryoma's pace stuttered, for a mere second only, but Sakuno had noticed it. 'Just what is he thinking?' Sakuno wondered. She was curious about Ryoma's actions today. They'd been having such a nice week, as being friends. But with the atmosphere in the classroom and now this, she was wondering about him. Sakuno continued to watch him, as she'd been doing for what seemed forever but Ryoma just continued on his way. Sakuno adjusted her bag, before trying for his attention. "Ryoma-kun, this is my stop." Ryoma looked at her and nodded in a distracted way. "I'll see you tomorrow at your game. I'll be cheering for you." Ryoma looked at her and nodded again. Sakuno stared at him for a second, he seemed to want to ask her something else but he was holding himself back. Finally Ryoma nodded again. Sakuno was a bit disappointed but pushed the thought away, she was probably being silly anyways. Waving Sakuno said her goodbye's and headed on her way to her house. Ryoma continued on his way too.

He had to think of something.

She wondered once more if everything was okay. Would this affect their budding friendship?

He felt like something was tugging him towards a new direction, and he wasn't sure were that direction led, or how its outcome would be.

She hoped that they'd still be friends.

He hoped that whatever was happening was for the better.

They hoped that their date tomorrow would go smoothly. After all they couldn't wait to meet up once more with their new friend.

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Note from the Author:

Hey everyone sorry for the really late update. My life has been one hectic problem after another, and after a seriously long stretch of writers block. I decided to scrap the chapter I had started and start from the beginning once more. So I hope this chapter doesn't confuse anyone and if it does I'm open for some critic about it. I also hope the flow that I'd established through the rest of this story is still going. But if it does not I'm, once more, open to ideas on how it could flow better.

Sorry for any typos and mistakes, my beta-reader has quit on me and I'm in the process of finding a new one. So please don't burn up my account with how horrible I spell . Believe me I already know.

So anyway. Thanks for reading and I'll try and update as soon as possible.

BlackDove of Blessings


	8. Chapter 8: Celebrations

Note from the Author:

Hey everyone sorry for the really late update. My life has been one hectic problem after another, and after a seriously long stretch of writers block. I decided to scrap the chapter I had started and start from the beginning once more. So I hope this chapter doesn't confuse anyone and if it does I'm open for some critic about it. I also hope the flow that I'd established through the rest of this story is still going. But if it does not I'm, once more, open to ideas on how it could flow better.

Sorry for any typos and mistakes, my beta-reader has quit on me and I'm in the process of finding a new one. So please don't burn up my account with how horrible I spell . Believe me I already know.

So anyway. Thanks for reading and I'll try and update again as soon as inspiration hits me again.

BlackDove of Blessings

Part Eight:

They had won their game. It really wasn't a surprise, in Ryoma's opinion, but this wouldn't keep them from going out to celebrate. They were packing away the last of their gear before heading to the school bus, and then it was off to celebrate. Can you guess where?

Kawamura's sushi shop of course! (Is it just me or do they need a new hang out? Maybe I'll create one; hmm… this needs some thought).

Ryoma grabbed his tennis bag and started heading back up the stairs, leaving the others behind to finish gathering their own belongings. As he topped the stairs and moved towards the parking lots he saw a small group of girls. They were all wearing his school's uniform. When he was closer he realized it was Kyori, Tomo, Sakuno and another girl from his class Kirri. Sakuno and Tomo had stayed for the whole game, cheering for Ryoma and the others, but he didn't remember seeing the other two. As he walked closer to them, they turned to see who was coming. Seeing it was him, Tomo waved him over. Ryoma hesitated, he really didn't want to be around Tomo and her boisterous attitude, but when he glanced at Sakuno he forgot about Tomo. Walking over to them, Ryoma raised a brow in question.

Seeing his reaction and knowing his personality Sakuno giggled, as did Kirri and Kyori. Tomo ignored it and instead began to talk to Ryoma. "Ryoma-sama do you think the others would mind if Kyori and Kirri came along to the celebrations with us?" Ryoma wasn't expecting this question, didn't think the others would mind but he wasn't going to speck for them. So instead he shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head in the direction of the others who were now coming up the stairs.

"You should ask them yourself." Ryoma then adjusted his bag and moved to stand behind Sakuno as Tomo moved forward to stop the groups' progression. As Tomo began to re-ask her question, Kirri and Kyori moved to stand next to her. Sakuno stayed were she was. The way Ryoma was standing he could look at Sakuno covertly without the others being able to see. Ryoma watched her profile as she smiled at Tomo's excited behavior as the other gave their acceptance of Kyori's and Kirri's attendance at their celebrations. She was soon laughing the squeals of excitement coming from her friends. The sound of her laughter and her smiling profile, made Ryoma's heart jump. It thumped hard when she turned her now laughing face towards him.

As Ryoma stared at her, Sakuno's laughter began to recede and a nervous flutter began in her stomach, heat spread from there to her face. Feeling the blush darkening Sakuno quickly turned her head away from Ryoma's penetrating stare. Breathing quickly Sakuno tried to calm herself. Ryoma, seeing her looking away, glanced away from her as well. He didn't know what possessed him lately, but he was definitely not feeling himself. And when he had reactions to Sakuno, similar to this one, he became unsure of himself.

"Hey! Ryoma, Sakuno-chan, are you coming!" The two were jerked from their thoughts as Momoshiro called to them. Seeing that they were the only two still standing there, they both flushed in embarrassment. Without looking at each other, they quickly followed their friends to the bus.

…

At Kawamura Sushi Shop

The party was in full swing. Everyone was laughing and being rambunctious, telling stories and jokes. Food and drink were passed freely (non-alcoholic), while the Coach and Kawamura's father shared in celebratory drinks. Ryoma was at a smaller table with only a few others. He was enjoying himself as he laughed along with the others, even making snide comments here and there. Sakuno was at a longer table with the girls, Fuji, Tezuka and Eiji, when he was sitting still. They were also having a good time, and getting to talk with her sempais one on one about their experiences during their freshman year at their high school was a new experience for her.

Tezuka and Kirri had kicked it off pretty well with a heated discussion on a book series they had each read, while Tomo was entertaining Fuji and Kiyori with a funny story about Hiro back in their third year at Seigaku junior high. Though she was listening off and on to both conversations her gaze kept landing on Ryoma. Watching him laugh and joke around made her oddly happy, and she kept catching herself smiling each time she saw Ryoma do so. It made her feel silly, like she was back in Junior high all over again and her crush had first developed. She kept reminding herself that they were friends and that she was being silly with these thoughts.

Like all good times, the party seemed to quickly be over as the Coach announced it was time to be getting home. Sakuno began to gather her things and head out the door with Tomo and Kyori saying her goodbyes as they went. It wasn't until a chilly windswept passed them did she realized she'd left her jacket hanging on the coat rack. Telling the others to go ahead Sakuno rushed back to the sushi shop. There were still people there when she walked back into the store. Some turned to the open door only to go back to their conversations when they saw it was just Sakuno. Sakuno turned towards the coat rack and came face to face with Ryoma. He was swinging on his regular's jacket and looked over to see Sakuno standing in front of the door. Curious he asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd already gone home?"

Sakuno jumped to answer him, feeling silly for staring at him again. "I was but I forgot my jacket. It's chilly outside and I had to come back to get it." Ryoma nodded at her answer. Turning to indicate the still overloaded coat rack he asked.  
"Which one is it?" Sakuno blinked at the question before turning to the coat rack as well.

"It's the yellow one with the baby pink strips on the sides and lettering." Ryoma dug through the coats. Finding the one Sakuno was looking for her pulled it out and handed it to her. Sakuno nodded her head and thanked him. Ryoma waited for her to put her jacket on before he spoke again.

"Are your friends waiting for you outside?" Sakuno shook her head no.

"I told them to go on ahead; I hope I can catch up to them." Sakuno began to turn and say her goodbyes when Ryoma spoke again.

"Why don't you just text them you're going home with me and they can go ahead home." Sakuno's eyes widened and Ryoma hurried to continue. "We're going the same way from here, and it would be stupid to make them wait for you to catch up with it be as chilly as you said." Sakuno thought about it and realized Ryoma was right, thanked him and then pulled out her phone to text Tomo that she was going home with Ryoma and that she didn't have to worry about her getting lost. After sending it, Sakuno nodded to Ryoma that it was done. Ryoma nodded too and wordlessly they headed outside and began walking home together.

…

The walk to their homes was a quiet one as neither of them really felt like talking. It was about a block from Sakuno's home that Ryoma spoke once more. "Are you free on Sunday?" Sakuno slowed at the question, turning to face Ryoma.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"I was thinking about our last 'date' and how we promised to hang out again sometime and I just thought we could hangout on Sunday. Play some tennis or something." Sakuno was as surprised by the offer as Ryoma was. Yes, they had decided to hang out again sometime, but the topic hadn't come up and it seemed so sudden. But Sakuno was really happy too, she really wanted to see more of Ryoma and the fact he was offering made it even better. It was the second time he was asking for a 'date' with her. Smiling really big now, Sakuno turned to Ryoma and nodded her head yes.

"I'd like to very much. Thanks Ryoma." Ryoma nodded, they began walking again. After walking her to her door, Ryoma paused to say.

"Then I'll meet you at the street corner at 11(am)." Sakuno nodded and smiled again. Ryoma waved good-bye and Sakuno answered with a voiced "See you later Ryoma-kun." Ryoma walked down the street and around the corner out of sight.

His hand was in his pants pocket, clutching a growingly familiar bracelet in his hand, smiling to himself. He was suddenly very excited for Sunday to get here.

….


End file.
